Eugene bike advocates say the City missed an opportunity when they decided to not color this bike box green.(Photo: Shane Rhodes/GEARs)

Not many folks realize that when it comes to bike boxes, Eugene was way ahead of the game. They installed one on High Street at 7th Ave. way back in 1998. That bike box was recently re-painted by the Department of Transportation, but instead of celebrating, some advocates are disappointed.

Shane Rhodes, advocacy director of the non-profit Greater Eugene Area Riders (GEARs) (and winner of the BTA’s Alice Award in 2009), reported yesterday that despite excitement over it getting re-painted, he had hoped for more.

Rhodes says that both GEARs and the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee urged the City of Eugene to mimic Portland’s bold green thermoplastic design. On the GEARs blog he wrote, “…it’s not quite up to snuff with other bike boxes in Portland and New York. It lacks the green paint that other communities have already found effective.”

By not painting the box green, says Rhodes, “the city has shown a lack of forward thinking and a vision of creating a safe and comfortable environment for cyclists.”

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Bahueh: My personal experience (and I know that’s not scientific) is that compliance is higher on boxes with the green paint in them. Assuming that’s actually the case (Portland’s doing a study now to determine whether there’s a difference in compliance) then I could see why the advocates might be unsatisfied.

Just so everyone knows 7th and High is not a rural intersection. Its more like Hawthorne and 12th at rush hour, all day long. So I can see how color might make a difference in driver awareness, or with some NOT.

I ride this intersection most everyday heading home from work. Very few cyclists use the box as intended. Most bail out and use the left hand sidewalk, or do the death merge in the following block.

David is right, this one of the busiest intersections in Eugene and a major N-S bike route to the riverside trail system. The new markings are a vast improvement over the old worn out markings, so I am willing to see if they help. I can understand the City not wanting to do the green box thing. Because there are no other green lanes in town, and the few blue lanes we do have deteriorate very rapidly where there is high car traffic across them. On some level, elaborate paint schemes are just more plastic crap that will end up in the river.

yeah. been there for years, never used it. drivers in Eugene are often oblivious. I think it has a lot to do with college age drivers, they are very aggressive, drunk and come from the likes of suburban oregon. Then sprinkle in some Springfielders and you have a real stew of bike-danger.

Speaking of green bike boxes, I seem to recall the city saying that the existing bike box on SE Clinton at 39th was going to get painted green, yet as of a couple weeks ago, it’s still colorless. Does anyone know if it’s ever going to be painted to match the other bike boxes around the city?

I’m actually very satisfied with a lot of things the City of Eugene is doing to encourage and facilitate more biking and walking in our community. I just think we can (and should) do more. I advocate for more because if we don’t then the status quo of more roads and less infrastructure for transportation options will continue.

I want to feel comfortable allowing my daughter to ride her bike to school. I want my friends to have the choice to walk to the corner store without fear of crossing a street. Right now we aren’t creating the infrastructure that makes that the easy option. We need to make the healthy choice the easy choice. Right now walking or biking is not the easy choice, driving is.

And I agree- Green and Yellow bike boxes for Eugene!! Let’s do it! Some good duck bike stencils and we’ll be set.